Summer Preparations for a Successful School Year
Dr. Ben Churchill
Carlsbad Unified School District
We look forward to welcoming our CUSD students back to school on Aug 30th. It has been a busy summer for our district staff as we prepare for the opening of school.
Over the last few weeks I have had the chance to visit campuses and to meet many members of our CUSD team. I continue to be impressed by this outstanding district, and my family and I are pleased to be settling in here in Carlsbad.
This summer we broke ground on two large projects: the Sage Creek Performing Arts Center, to be completed in the winter of 2017; and the Valley Middle School PE locker room and Science classrooms, which should be ready by the end of next summer.
As is the case every summer, our facilities staff and custodians have been busy on our campuses--cleaning, painting and repairing--so that each school ready for the arrival of students in a few weeks.
In addition, over 70 teachers participated in the three-day AVID Summer Institute with teams from their schools. There, they sharpened their instructional skills and learned new classroom methodologies.
The Math Strategies Committee also has been working this summer on a plan to roll out the new Go Math elementary curriculum in the 2016-17 school year. New instructional materials are already arriving at the schools. Go Math will give CUSD a cohesive K-12 math curriculum aligned with the new state standards and the Smarter Balanced assessments (SBAC).
Meanwhile, Personnel Services has been busy interviewing and hiring nearly 40 new teachers and three administrators. One of these administrators is Nicole Johnston, CUSD’s new Valley Middle School principal. Ms. Johnston comes to Carlsbad from Cupertino Union School District, where she served as the Director of Assessment for two years, and Principal at Kennedy Middle School for five years. We welcome Nicole and all of our new teachers, administrators, and classified staff to Carlsbad Unified School District.
All teachers will be back in full force on August 25--with an optional professional development day on August 24--to meet, collaborate, and prepare for the arrival of students.
Enjoy your last few weeks of vacation. We are excited to see you soon.
